


Mazel Tov

by JetGirl1832, tomatopudding



Series: The Hamilton Family Album [65]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-16
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2019-02-15 08:25:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13027107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JetGirl1832/pseuds/JetGirl1832, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomatopudding/pseuds/tomatopudding
Summary: A toast to the grooms! AJ and Eli finally tie the knot.





	Mazel Tov

December 2018

When AJ awoke that morning, he knew a few things. He knew that he his only class that day was cancelled. He knew that he would therefore be spending his entire day at Mr. Burr's side doing paperwork and running errands. He even knew exactly which of his countless (aka three) ties he would be wearing that day. But the last thing that AJ knew hadn't been planned beforehand, it had come to him suddenly with his first waking breath. Today, he would going to ask Eli to marry him.

Sure, he didn't see himself ever being with anyone other than Eli but there was something different about a proposal. A proposal felt solid, it felt real. It was a promise with more substance. Not to mention he had always wanted to get married, even as a boy he had imagined having a wedding band on his finger. He might have been more than a little inspired by his parents and the strength of their bond.

He even remembered one time trying on his father's ring when he'd been washing dishes one night, at the time it had been much to large for his own small fingers, but he still remembered the feeling.

So he was going to ask Eli to marry him, but it had to be perfect. AJ wasn't the kind of guy who made big romantic gestures. This time, however, an exception would have to be made. Because Eli liked romance, it made him go all misty-eyed and adorable. More adorable than usual. 

As AJ got dressed thoughts and ideas swirled through his head as he began to plot how he was going to propose.

“Too cliche,” he sighed at his latest idea, involving a carriage ride in Central Park.

And damn Philip for making him watch all those rom coms, because every idea that popped into his head seemed to be tied back to one of them. 

Then he remembered the story his dad would always tell, of how he proposed to their mother. Maybe he could take it up a notch?

It would certainly take more planning that he had originally considered, but it would certainly be worth it.

\----------

Eli was tired from being on his feet all day and wanted nothing more than to spend the evening on the couch. A mug of hot tea would be good too. And of course cuddles, lots of cuddles. Although they didn't technically live together, AJ was at Eli's apartment so often that even the landlord knew him and had personally made him a key, so usually Eli could trust that his boyfriend--Partner? After two years, they were certainly more than just simply boyfriends--would be waiting to greet him. Today, however, the only thing that greeted him was a handwritten note.

It had been taped to the mirror that hung on the wall of the entryway.

Puzzled, Eli picked it up and read the note over. It seemed to be directing him to the little cafe around the corner that they often had breakfast at on the weekend. Eli let out a sigh. He really wasn't in the mood to play a game right now.

But looking around it was obvious that AJ was not there, pulling out his phone he decided to call him.

"What's going on?" Eli asked, barely giving AJ a chance to greet him. 

"What do you mean?" asked AJ with faked nonchalance. 

Eli squeezed the bridge of his nose, "Motek, I'm not really in the mood for this right now. I just want to go home and-"

"No!" AJ interrupted hastily, "I mean, please don't. Just...humor me, okay? I promise that it will be worth it."

"Where are you?" Eli asked, "The cafe isn't all that exciting."

"I'm not at the cafe," answered AJ, "Just...talk to Jerry. He'll tell you what to do."

Jerry was the owner of the cafe and a friend of theirs, who could usually be found working the counter in the evenings. 

 

“Fine...” Eli grumbled and went for his coat.

 

He made his way to the cafe in a bit of a sour mood, but his spirits lifted slightly when Jerry greeted him with a huge to go cup of his very favorite spiced hot apple cider. 

"Already paid for by your man," he said with a grin, "Also, he told me to give you this."

He handed over another note and Eli took a moment to take a deep drink of his cider before he unfolded it. 

 

This time it included instructions for Eli to make his way to a nearby bakery that AJ would frequently hit up for croissants. As he walked, his coat buttoned up against the early December chill, Eli kept his insides warm with sips of cider. 

He could smell bakery before he even saw it, the fresh buttery scent and a hint of buttercream frosting. Eli wasn't a pastry chef for that very reason, the wonderful scent would drive him too crazy. Of course, he didn't complain when the next note was delivered with a red velvet cupcake. 

Eli couldn't help but smile as he took a bite and read the next set of instructions.

 

The note from the bakery sent Eli quite a bit further from home than the previous two stops on this odd city tour AJ had arranged. Although, Elin couldn't find it in himself to complain about that when this latest stop gifted him with a fresh, steaming pretzel dripping with hot, oozy cheese. And of course Eli had noticed the pattern forming, taking him to places that were entwined with his and AJ's everyday life and with their two year history together. 

 

Eli made sure to wipe the excess cheese from his hands before opening the next note to continue on his way, with each stop his grin getting a little wider. Finally, after several more stops at various locations in the city, Eli was lead to the natural history museum. 

 

Eli furrowed as brow as he walked up the stairs of the large building all the while scanning the area for AJ.

He spotted him standing next to a photo booth, the kind that let you choose a cheesy background and take a strip of four photos. AJ was fidgeting where he stood, looking around nervously and occasionally glancing at his watch. 

"You know," Eli said as he approached, "if you wanted to go on a date to the museum, you could have just asked."

 

Eli couldn't help but notice that AJ was blushing slightly, "Well where is the fun in that?" he asked.

Eli had the distinct feeling that AJ was up to something, but he couldn't figure out what. He pushed those thoughts away as they went to pay for admission. 

"Thanks for the snacks," Eli commented as they wandered in, his arm hooked through AJ's.

“Anytime,” AJ replied.

 

"But not too often," teased Eli, "I need to keep my svelte figure."

"You could look any way and I would still love you," AJ said.

Eli was slightly startled by the sincerity and felt his cheeks redden. They walked hand in hand toward the exhibits, immediately gravitating towards the space exhibit.

As they wandered through the exhibit, stopping to read placards here and there and letting others pass them by without a fuss. 

"It's so amazing to think about, isn't it?" Eli said, "The fact that this huge planet we're on is orbiting around the sun, it just seems so incredible, so unbelievable, you know?"

"You're my sun," AJ said, his voice so soft that Eli almost didn't hear him, "I find myself making you the center of my universe, orbiting around you."

Eli felt his face get warm at the comment, out of all the guys he’d dated there had never been anyone like AJ.

"Maybe we're more of a binary system," Eli offered, the calmness in his voice belying his racing heart. AJ wasn't hugely romantic, but when he got that way and said something sappy, it was really meaningful despite the cheesiness, "Orbiting around each other equally, keeping each other grounded."

AJ hummed, "Binary system. I like that."

 

After leaving the space exhibit, they made their way down a long hall to continue their adventure.

AJ was moving through the museum unusually quickly. Usually he liked to savor these kinds of things but to today he seemed rushing towards something. He was also particularly fidgety, but in a good way. It was as if he had some kind of secret that he couldn't wait to spill. 

As it was getting close to closing time they ended up back in the entryway by the photo booth where Eli had found him earlier.

"Okay, what's going on?" Eli asked, "Not that this hasn't been nice and all, but you're hiding something. I can tell."

“I just think we should take some pictures to remember this moment,” AJ smiled.

"When did you become such a sap?" Eli teased even as he followed AJ to the photo booth, "This is so unlike you."

 

"Yes sir," laughed Eli, sliding into the booth. 

It was a bit of a squeeze, especially considering Eli's broad shoulders, but they both managed to get in. He couldn’t help but notice as AJ seemed to fumble with his pockets before setting the booth up to start.

 

"What sort of background should we use?" Eli mused as he scrolled through the options.

"You choose," AJ replied, clearly distracted to an extent.

Eli finally settled on a background. 

"Ready?" he asked, his finger hovering over the start button. 

“Great,” Eli grinned and hit start before going to put his arms around AJ as the timer ticked for the first photo.

“AJ?” Eli furrowed his brow and saw AJ pull something from his pocket.

"Eli," AJ began, "I love you. Being with you has been the best thing that has ever happened to me."

"What are you doing?" Eli asked, his voice wavering slightly. 

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you," continued AJ. 

The camera clicked for the first picture but Eli barely even registered it in his mind, "What is going on-"

AJ opened a small box and pulled out a simple band of gold, "Eli Blumenthal... I want to marry you, and I want to know if you feel the same way about me."

"Oh my..." Eli said in a hushed whisper, his eyes wide.

The camera clicked again as Eli reached for the ring.

"What do you say?" AJ asked.

Eli found himself struck speechless, taking the ring with shaking fingers as AJ watched. 

 

"Y-yes!" Eli replied, "Why would I say anything else?"

The brightest smile Eli had ever seen completely lit up AJ's face and Eli couldn't help leaning forward to kiss him as the camera flashed again. Then it was like the world and the photo booth melted away.

 

\----------

To be perfectly honest, AJ never even considered making a huge announcement to the family. He didn't want to steal Philip and Theo's thunder right in the middle of the preparations for their big, white wedding. Because that was the thing, AJ wanted to be married but he never wanted a huge fussy wedding. Not to mention, he didn't want to wait or to have a long engagement. 

So he suggested to to Eli that the two of them get married at the courthouse and call it good.

"I don't care how we do it," Eli had replied, pulling AJ close, "We're getting married and that's the important part."

So here they were at the courthouse, waiting to be called in. They'd already gotten the marriage license document and filled in their relevant information. All they needed now was a few signatures to make it official. Honestly, it was kind of a miracle that they had found a marriage license appointment so quickly. AJ's research had shown that it was possible to wait months for open appointment times. 

 

They were joined by Eli’s grandmother, Grandpa George and Grandma Martha.

 

AJ felt a little bit bad for not including his parents, but he also knew that if that happened then the whole family would know within hours. It was lucky that the Washingtons just happened to be visiting, so AJ had taken that opportunity. 

 

“I’m proud of you son,” George gently squeezed your shoulder.

“You promise you won’t tell Dad? At least not yet?” AJ asked.

"I'll respect your wishes," George said, "but I hope you know that your parents would be so happy for you right now."

AJ smiled “I will tell them, but Philip and Theo deserve their moment, I’d rather them have all the attention being the first to get married.”

"You put others ahead of yourself," said George knowingly, "You're so much like your mother in that respect."

 

AJ felt his face get warm, "Thanks Grandpa George."

"Hamilton?"

AJ felt his breath catch in his throat. It was time. After one last shoulder squeeze from George, he took Eli's hand so they could lead the way into the clerk's chambers. 

 

As the door shut behind the five of them AJ’s heart began to beat fast. This was it.

 

"Alright," the clerk said, looking at the marriage certificate in front of him, "Alexander Hamilton Jr."

"That's me," AJ replied. 

The clerk smiled at him briefly, "Fantastic. I need your identification please, the same form that you used for the license."

AJ nodded and reached into his coat to pull out his driver’s license and passed it to the clerk. The clerk checked a few things and made a few notes before handing it back. 

"And Eliyahu Blumenthal," he continued, taking Eli's ID as well. “Everything seems to be in order.” The clerk adjusted his glasses.

AJ nerves must have shown on his face because Eli squeezed his hand reassuringly. 

"Now all I need is identification from your witnesses and we'll be done with the preliminary logistics," said the clerk, "Then the fun part."

AJ rocked back and forth on his feet slightly as he watched Grandpa George and Grandma Martha hand over the IDs and as the clerk had a moment of recognition of who was in front of him. Despite being slightly flustered at the sight of a former president, the clerk was able to recover enough to check Katya's ID as well. AJ caught Grandpa George quietly chuckling as he put his ID back into his wallet.

The clerk cleared his throat, “Well now that we’ve got everything in order we can move on to what you’ve been waiting for.”

AJ caught Eli's eye and saw the same excitement in them that he knew was all over his own face. 

"We're pretty open about the actual ceremony aspect," the clerk continued, "Technically, all we need are some signatures, but you're welcome to make any sort of vows that you'd like. We also have the standard vows if you would prefer."

“Well,” AJ started, “I’m not as eloquent as certain members of my family, but I have a little something I would like to say.”

AJ pulled a folded paper out of his pocket and cleared his throat before unfolding it and beginning to read. 

"Ani l'dodi," he said, sounding out the Hebrew transliteration carefully, "vedodi li. I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine. I am so happy to have you with me in this world and to entwine my life with yours. You make me so happy, happier than I ever knew I could be before I met you."

AJ noticed that there seemed to be tears forming in Eli's eyes, "I'm so happy to be with you today, because there is no one else in the world I want to spend the rest of my life with."

AJ had scarcely finished speaking when Eli blurt out, "God, I love you." He half launched himself at AJ to kiss him soundly and deeply on the mouth. AJ blinked dazedly when they parted. 

"Well," the clerk said, blushing slightly on their behalf, "if nobody has anything else to say?"

Eli hadn't stopped looking into AJ's eyes and simply shook his head, "Just marry us already."

"You heard the man," George chuckled, an almost unnoticeable waver in his voice and his eyes suspiciously shiny. 

The clerk smiled, "Very well then, I've got all the paperwork and just need a few quick signatures."

After a few short minutes, all the paperwork was filled in and signed. It seemed unreal to think that they were married, like a dream AJ never thought would come true. Eli seemed equally struck and kept looking at AJ with wonderment.

"So we're married," AJ smiled, "that was easy."

"Ridiculously," agreed Eli, squeezing AJ's hand tightly.

"I can't believe it," said AJ, "I can't believe it's real."

"It's real," Eli assured him, leaning in for a kiss.

\----------

There had been so much activity with the cookout and celebration that AJ only noticed that Eli was missing when they all started settling down on the front lawn to view the fireworks.

“Hey have you seen Eli?” AJ went to Angie.

Angie furrowed her brow, “Umm, he’s right behind you.”

Eli was indeed standing very nearby, his arm hooked through Theo's. When he saw AJ looking at him, Eli blew him a kiss. 

"Gross," Angie said, rolling her eyes, but her tone was fondly teasing.

“You’re just jealous,” AJ smirked before walking towards Eli.

The smile that spread across his husband's face--and even after nearly eight months that was still amazing to think--made AJ's heart skip a beat. 

"Hey," AJ greeted, slipping his arm around Eli's waist. 

"I should get back to Philip," Theo said before leaning it to kiss AJ on the cheek, "Congrats, sweetie."

"Congrats?" AJ asked, bemused. 

"I may have told her that we got married," Eli explained with a shrug. 

"Hold on, what?"

Both of them froze at the sound of Alex's voice. 

"Whoops," Eli whispered sheepishly.

“When did this happen?” His Dad asked, “How could you not tell us?”

 

"Um, well..." AJ hedged, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Alex, what’s all this about?” Eliza approached him.

 

Eliza raised her brows in surprise, “Is this true?”

"I've been wearing a ring," AJ said, his cheeks flushing, "and there are photos of my proposal on our fridge. It's not my fault if none of you have noticed."

Eliza reached out and took his hands smiling, “I’m so happy for you two.”

"Well, of course we're happy," Alex said, "I just...why didn't you say anything?"

“Didn’t want to steal Philip’s thunder,” AJ shrugged.

"Philip!" Alex called, gesturing his oldest son over, "Did you hear what your brother did?"

"I've been informed," Philip said, coming to a stop with Theo by his side. 

"Theo," Eli sighed.

She shrugged apologetically, "Did you really think I wouldn't tell?"

“Well I guess that’s cat’s out of the bag.” Eli blushed.

"I didn't want to take the attention off of your wedding," AJ was explaining to his brother, "You were in the middle of planning and preparing."

"You idiot," Philip said fondly, ruffling AJ's hair, "Doesn't matter what else was going on, you should have said something. Nobody would have been offended."

"Hold on, when did this all happen anyway?" Alex asked. 

"December," AJ replied.

"So after all that fuss I made about Philip being my first child to get married," Alex said, "it was you! All along it was you! And I wasn't a part of it!"

Alex wasn't actually mad--and AJ knew his father well enough to know that--but it still felt like he was being chastised.

“Sorry Pops,” AJ muttered.

AJ should had been expecting the hug, but it took him by surprise and he almost fell over with the force of it, only not doing so because of Eli's strong grip on his waist.

“Don’t ever get married without telling me again,” Alex spoke up.

AJ chuckled, "Not planning on it."

"I should hope not," Eli added, his tone amused.

At that everyone who was surrounding them let out a laugh.

"Oh, come here you," Alex said, detaching himself from AJ and pulling Eli into his own hug. 

"I can't believe you got married without telling anyone," Angie said, smacking the back of AJ's head.

“Ow!” AJ frowned.

"I didn't hit you that hard," Angie huffed, "Big baby. Congrats or whatever."

"Thanks or whatever," AJ shot back.

“So you finally told them,” George chuckled approaching the crowd of Hamiltons, “I was beginning to wonder when that would happen.”

"What!"

AJ winced at his father's exclamation as Angie gave an amused snort. 

"You knew?" Alex asked, his eyes wide, "All along, you knew?"

"Martha and eye stood witness," George said proudly. 

"Ah," replied Alex before rounding on AJ, "Anything else you need to say?"

"Yes dad," AJ said seriously, "Eli's pregnant."

“AJ...” Alex sighed.

"You asked," AJ said with a shrug. 

 

This made everyone around them laugh a bit.

“Well now that’s taken care of who is ready for some fireworks?” George smiled.

That proclamation made the younger kids cheer and scatter to find good spots on the grass to sit.

Eli intertwined his fingers with AJ’s, “Shall we?”

"We shall," replied AJ. 

The Washingtons had prepared by setting out various chairs and blankets on their large lawn and AJ led the way to one of the blankets. It was much easier for them to cuddle close together that way. Just then the fireworks started overhead, small at first. The two of them sat down, AJ resting his head on Eli’s shoulder.

"I love you, you know," Eli said, his voice soft but still audible despite the loud fireworks because of their proximity. 

"That's news to me," teased AJ. 

Eli poked playfully at AJ's waist, where he was the most ticklish, causing AJ to try to squirm away. Eli didn't let him, however. Eli smirked and kissed AJ’s cheek. When he tried to do the same again, AJ turned his head in order to capture Eli's lips with his. Eli hummed into the kiss, pulling AJ even closer. Just as he deepened it, the fireworks grand finale erupted, filling the air with flashes of bright color and a cacophony of sound.


End file.
